we heard from the white house and congress about the fiscal cliff. here's a look at possible affects on homeownership if an agreement can't be reached. host: randal o'toole is a senior fellow at the cato institute in washington and is the author of this book on how government undermines the dream of home ownership. thanks for being with us. >> good morning. glad to be here. host: how does the government affect homeowners buying a home? guest: 45% of american housing is in states and urban areas that have severe land-use restrictions, urban growth boundaries to prevent urban sprawl. they have other kinds of restrictions such as onerous permitting processes that it takes up to five years to get a permit to build up to one house. that makes it very hard for builders to meet demand for housing. when that happens, housing prices become very expensive. homeownership rates dropped. the federal government has long had a policy of promoting home ownership. we have various subsidies for home ownership, but ironically, when the federal subsidies for home owners